Information Technology continues to change at a rapid pace. These changes greatly affect the world in which we live. Colleges and universities seem to particularly be affected by the changes in technology. Not only do they have to constantly adapt to the technology itself, they have to also adjust their delivery of instruction to the students of today. Georgia Highlands College, not unlike any other college, has limited funds available. Technology seems to compete for a larger portion of those funds each year. Georgia Highlands College strives to provide students with the most robust technology, while balancing infrastructure requirements and faculty and staff technology resources as well. There is not an exact science to this process however.

Like many other institutions, Georgia Highlands College has spent the last several years trying to get a handle on technology, the planning process, and likewise the assessment of strategic decisions regarding technology. This Information Technology Strategic Plan attempts to outline the process of planning and review at Georgia Highlands College.

The format of the plan provides a vision, purpose, mission, and goals for technology at Georgia Highlands College. It also includes the current organization of Information Technology, which affects how the technology is carried out and the environment in which it operates. Finally, the plan provides a section for strategic goals and assessment. This section of the plan is reviewed annually and adjusted to reflect the latest strategies in regards to technology at the College. These goals are derived from a collaborative planning process represented by many functional areas of the College. The Information Technology Department utilizes these goals as guidance to the direction of their resources and activities during the academic year.

In addition to the strategic goals and assessment plan, Information Technology identifies several major objectives that the department will focus its personnel and resources on each year.

Similarly, a technology based strategic assessment is completed annually by each division and department. This form allows the IT Department to collect important information from our users’ perspective. While not all of the requested changes and updates can necessarily be completed, IT does make every attempt to complete as many of these requests as can be accommodated. These are identified by each department/division and can be viewed from the table of contents under the section: Department / Division Area Objectives